US President Joe Biden is in Brussels on Monday to participate in the first NATO summit during his presidency.

A summit that is out of step with Donald Trump's relationship with the Atlantic Alliance.

Guest of Europe 1, Monday, the political scientist Bruno Tertrais evokes a summit "essentially symbolic".

The 32nd NATO summit opens Monday, the first of the Joe Biden era.

While his predecessor, Donald Trump, had repeatedly brandished the threat of a withdrawal of the United States from the transatlantic treaty, the current American president went to Brussels for a summit which should mark a new era in relations between Washington and its allies.

Bruno Tertrais, political scientist, specialist in geopolitical and strategic analysis, was the guest of Europe 1, Monday morning.

For him, "this summit will be essentially symbolic. It is a summit of reunion, a summit where the family photo will be important."

>> Find the morning show of the day in replay and podcast here

From "shock therapy" to "rehabilitation"

"The defense of an attacked ally is a sacred obligation," said US President Joe Biden. A position clearly out of step with that of the one who preceded him in the White House. "The important thing for Joe Biden is to reaffirm America's solemn commitment to defend its allies," said Bruno Tertrais. "The 'one for all, all for one' of the Washington Treaty is the first message, and perhaps the most important of this summit."

Does this 32nd summit ratify the rebirth of the Atlantic Alliance qualified, in November 2019 by Emmanuel Macron, as being in a state of "brain death"? “After the shock therapy, we moved on to rehabilitation a bit,” says Bruno Tertrais. If the latter considers it unlikely that the French president will repeat this kind of statement - which at the time pointed to the presidency of Donald Trump -, the political scientist all the same evokes a question that will be central in the maintenance of transatlantic solidarity: that concerning Turkey and "the somewhat personal game of Recep Tayyip Erdogan". "We'll see, but maybe Turkey will once again be NATO's troublemaker."

Common ambitions and values.

This is the G7.

And for three days we confirmed it.

We have made progress on how to meet the challenges of our time.

Consistency.

Positive.

Concrete!

https://t.co/pkO4RqRg2M

- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 13, 2021

"Show that he has this Western solidarity behind him"

Unlike Donald Trump who ignored Europe, Joe Biden reiterates the importance of ties between the United States and Europeans. "It should be remembered that the defense of Europe is an American interest", explains Bruno Tertrais. "If anything dramatic happened to Europe, America would be affected, if only economically," continues the specialist in geopolitical analysis. "It's not just ideology, it's also an American interest: quite simply to sell defense equipment to Europe."

For Bruno Tertrais, there is obviously a political component. Indeed, he said, while the American president is due to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, "it is important for Joe Biden to show that he does not represent Western democracies but that he has this Western solidarity behind him" . And the same is true of China. "Here again, it is important for him to try to create, not a common front because we are not in a logic of confrontation, but at least a certain common perception of the Chinese problem", concludes Bruno Tertrais. . "It's important to him inside and out."